The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

And young and old come forth to play
On a sunshine holiday.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 94
Then to the spicy nut-brown ale.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 100
Towered cities please us then,
And the busy hum of men.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 117
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the prize
Of wit or arms.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 121
There let Hymen oft appear
In saffron robe, with taper clear,
And pomp, and feast, and revelry,
With masque, and antique pageantry:
Such sights as youthful poets dream
On summer eves by haunted stream.
Then to the well-trod stage anon,
If Jonson’s learnéd sock be on,
Or sweetest Shakespeare fancy’s child,
Warble his native wood-notes wild,
And ever against eating cares,
Lap me in soft Lydian airs,
Married to immortal verse
Such as the meeting soul may pierce
In notes, with many a winding bout
Of linkéd sweetness long drawn out.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 125
Such strains as would have won the ear
Of Pluto, to have quite set free
His half-regained Eurydice.
‘L’Allegro’ (1645) l. 148
Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,
I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude,
And with forced fingers rude
Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.
Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear,
Compels me to disturb your season due;